Delta has new options for purchased and complimentary upgrades. (Image: delta)
Don’t you hate it when you get an automatic “upgrade” to a middle seat? Well, that won’t happen anymore on Delta.
Today Delta introduced new options that will let customers buy upgrades for all or any part of their trip after the ticket is purchased, and will let SkyMiles Medallions select seats for complimentary upgrades and accept or reject automatic upgrades based on seat assignment.
The way Delta’s automatic upgrade clearing process worked previously, SkyMiles Medallions would simply be assigned a seat with the upgrade, although it might be one they wouldn’t prefer, like a middle seat.
With the new procedure, Medallions can opt to pick their own upgrade seat when their eligibility window opens instead of going with an automatic assignment. “The seat map will also allow a Medallion Member to choose to revert back to Main Cabin with one touch if they aren’t happy with their upgrade seat assignment, for example, to a middle seat,” Delta said. “This improvement is designed for customers who value exact seat selection more than the ease of automation.”
In the other change, customers who want to buy an upgrade don’t have to make that decision at the time of ticket purchase, and they can purchase a premium seat product – including Comfort+ extra-legroom economy seats — on any or all legs of their flight. When they do so, they can use a different payment method than they did for the original ticket purchase.
Comfort+ upgrades can be bought after the ticket is issued, using a different payment method. (Image: Delta)
Customers can do this through Delta’s website or by calling the reservations number (and soon, through Delta’s app), requesting a higher seat category as an add-on, “regardless of where the original ticket was purchased,” Delta said. “The customer can select a premium product on any individual segment of their journey, or the entire trip, and use the same or a different method of payment for the transaction.”
This would presumably mean that if the ticket was bought by the traveler’s company travel agency, for instance, and billed to the company account, the traveler could buy a higher seat category after the ticket was issued, using his or her own credit card. Previously, Delta allowed directional upgrade purchases from origin to destination, but not segment-by-segment.
The company said the changes were made based on feedback from corporate travel customers.
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